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The Like Epidemic | Using Word “Like” Excessively Speech improvement

An insightful article.The word like has truly reached epidemic proportions, as Susan said accurately It makes one's speech sound immature and childish. If you do pay a close attention you will notice the absurdity and plague. Even "Educated" people,famous celebrities, Presidents, Renowned professors and so on..

Compare it to old generation for instance: I personally enjoy listening to English persons from somewhat older generations. One of the notable examples was Christoper Lee or Christoper Tolkien. They seem to have an air of good manners and good speech that I lament being harder attributes to find out in the world these days, it's a heaven on ears. The way they speak is so polished and elegant, and they can form syntactic sentences and express long thoughts ex-tempore without stuttering or resorting to filler words which is incredibly rare to witness these days.

Like” is a good word, a useful word. I like it. It has been in use since the Middle Ages. However, it has never been as ubiquitous in casual conversation as it is now. I must admit that excessive and unnecessary use of like has been a pet peeve of mine for years. It is commonly used as a filler, and it delays expressing an actual idea.
Use of Word “like” Now Extends to All Ages and Genders

At one time, like seemed to have special proprietary usage by teens. However, use of likenow extends to all ages and genders. Please allow me to demonstrate… “So, I was like at this film screening, like the other night, and like the moderator used the word “like” like so many times that it was like so distracting.” This is, in fact, what happened. On a recent evening, while attending a film screening, the very knowledgeable and insightful moderator, was afflicted with a case of the likes. It was at that point that I realized that the idiomatic use of the word “like” had reached epidemic proportions.
A number of audience members and I were so distracted by his excessive use of like that we were unable to focus on his insights and analysis of the movie. He came across sounding very immature, uneducated, and unsure of himself. To spice things up a bit, he tossed “you know” and “really” into the mixture. These alternative fillers did not help at all.
Use of Word “Like”Has Acceptable Uses

Like has many idiomatic uses that are acceptable and used to share information in a conversation. A sampling of a few of these are as follows: like a fish out of water, like a ton of bricks, like looking for a needle in a haystack, like pulling teeth, and like two peas in a pod. We can say, “Bob stood there in his rented tuxedo, like a fish out of water” or “Trying to find a white glove in a snowstorm is like looking for a needle in a haystack”. In these cases, like is used to help express a clear idea.
“Like” as a Verb

As a verb, like expresses pleasure (I like you), as a preposition, like indicates resembling closely or similar to (It’s not like you), as an adverb like can mean “as if” (He ran like crazy), as a noun like means similar to (“button, snaps and the like”), as an adjective like can mean “such as” (saved things like old newspapers) and finally, like can signify “in the same way” (To play the piano like she does takes practice). At the risk of becoming too pedantic, I will move on, but since the correct use of like seems to have been replaced by its present overuse in pop culture, it seemed necessary to have this momentary flashback to English 101.
Using Like as a Filler

If you too have been infected with the like epidemic, do not despair; there is hope. Before we can change a habit, whether it is a speech sound or another verbal speech pattern, we have to be able to hear it. Record yourself telling a story as if you are talking to a friend or while you are on the phone with a friend, record your half of the conversation. Go back, and listen to the recording and count all of the times you used the word “like”. Now, while listening to the recording, say the same sentences again, without using the word “like”. Stop the recording every two to three sentences and reproduce the same part of the story without the use of like. After you have completed this process, try telling the same story again, from beginning to end, without relying on the filler like. Record your narration so that you will be able to hear the new, improved, like-less version. You have begun to train your ear to scan for the word like and now, more aware of it, you can begin to curtail using it in everyday, conversational speech.
Repeat this exercise on a daily basis until you have succeeded in restoring use of the word “like” to its traditional and grammatically correct role.
I would really likethat!
Using a speech pathologist is a great way to correct a “like” problem.

The end.

Shockingly a lot of people dot even pay attention nor realise how low society truly sank with an incredibly wrong speech which is at least to say annoying,unpleasant and irritating to listen or comprehend. Susan spoke the pure truth and she was hated for it which of course is not surprising at all ,A shallow retaliation.

Sorrowful it is. Everyone should at least attempt to improve their speech ,it will make you sound way more intelligent,coherent and professional. Pause, re-think what you wish to say. Expand your vocabulary.

Next time focus and open your ears. The Enormous number of human beings are plagued by constant meaningless repetition of words "like", "You know" "and" in particular the combination of Like/You know. Be that an interview,You-Tube video, random voice /in game chat* and even a written word Like what, Like when, Like in .xyxy. The epidemic is real and will be nigh impossible to stop. You cannot allow yourself to sound LIKE a young boy or a girl who just started the elementary school. Tis a mini torture for older generations too, but they will not admit it to you.